Tone Trump

Wordplay w/Tone Trump
By: Deesha Dyer

Back in 2006 someone posted in the Music forums about Tone Trump asking if anyone had heard of him and what people thought. CLICK HERE The consensus seemed to be positive with critics saying he has a nice flow and that he is “the truth.” The West Philly native has established his name as a certified representative of the city’s hip-hop scene and that can be proven by his consistent radio and newspaper presence, as well as his community involvement. Tone Trump also holds a membership card to G-Unit Philly. So, what better time to get to know him a little bit more?

1. When was the last time you were on an airplane?
Last week.

2. Have you ever been in a pay-by-the-hour motel?
No thats not my style.

3. What is the most you ever paid for a concert and who was it?
$300 for Jay-Z and I sold my ticket for $500

4. What is your astrological sign?
Sag

5. What do you think is the best hip-hop oriented magazine currently?
Foundation magazine

6. Who would you rather have sex with - Pam or Gina (from Martin)?
Pam

7. How many pairs of sneakers do you own?
Too many.

8. What are you top 5 websites you visit weekly?
myspace.com/tonetrump, topnotchfamily.com, 215hiphop.com, tonetrump.net ,gunit.com

9. What are your top albums of 2007?
50 cent, young buck, usda, freeway, gunit philly

10. What is your prediction for the next Super Bowl?
The cowboys, all day

11. When was the last time you rode a Greyhound bus?
A couple months ago

12. Do you consider yourself to have an addictive personality?
Probably

13. What do you think was or is the worst clothing trend in hip-hop history?
FUBU

14. Why do you think the divorce rate is so high in the USA?
People dont know what love is

15. When was the last time you went camping?
About 20 years ago

16. Do you think college degrees are necessary?
Most definitely

17. Do you think the Barry Bonds indictment is fair?
Hell no

18. Do you play the lottery and if so, what is the biggest amount you have won?
No I don’t

19. Who would win a fist fight out of Beanie Sigel and Freeway?
Mike Knox

20. Who would win a lyrical battle?
Tone Trump - 215hiphop.com

Author: Jay Carter

24: For the readers out there that may not know who Tone Trump is please introduce yourself?

Tone Trump: I'm from the West Side of Philly, which is the hardest part of Philly. I actually started out playing basketball and got into some trouble and got kicked out of school and its like B.I.G. said, 'Either you sell rocks, rap or got a wicked jump shot.' I started getting into neighborhood battles and I got good at it and I saw that girls liked rappers so I started going hard at it more and more. I have been grinding since for the past seven years trying to make sure my part of Philly get the right look we deserve to get!

24: Describe your style or sound and what separates you from other artist that came out of Philly?

Tone Trump: A lot of artist came out of Philly and gave their perspective but I feel like when I give mines it's going to be a more well rounded perspective because a lot of people think Philly is Beanie Sigel or Black Thought, Cassidy to Fresh Prince. I'm coming with a mixture of all them dudes together and represent a Philly dude and show that we can be gangsters and smart and sit down with CEO's at these labels to hustlers on the corner. As far as my style I have been inspired from people all over the world so I try to take a little form everybody and put my twist to it and give the people something original.

24: Tell me about G-Unit Philly and how did that situation come about?

Tone Trump: Basically it was a blessing. Knox who is signed to G-Unit was pitching different ideas and gave him the go to put together G-Unit Philly which is a group which consists of myself, Mike Knox, Ivy Vega, Cotic. A lot of people compare us to State Property because were a Philly group but I think we are going to take it a step further especially judging by what's in the works as we speak from Mixtapes to DVD's and a reality show. We already the shit in Philly and now that stamp will just take us to another level.

24: I'm happy that you mentioned being this shit in your own city because I try to tell up and coming artist all the time you have to take over your block, then city, then state before you try to take over the world!

Tone Trump: Definitely, and I think Philly is one of the hardest places to take over and make a name for yourself. So by us accomplishing this alone is a big deal within itself!

24: I see that you having been putting in leg work seeing all of your mixtapes you put out so where do you get your work ethic from?

Tone Trump: I'm just hungry man, since I was a little boy my moms always kept me fly. I was wearing Versace in the 7th grade, jewelry since the 3rd Grade so I always knew that if I wanted to keep those things I had to work hard for it. I started my own staffing company when I was 20 years old and having grown men working for me where I had 50 employees total. I have been blessed to be around artist that were signed from early and I've gotten to see the ones that were lazy and where it got them and the one's that worked hard!

24: Tell me about your label Top Notch?

Tone Trump: Top Notch was a street crew we started back in the days doing crazy shit like stealing cars and a whole bunch of shit we had no business doing. The core of the crew was four of us and one got killed, one got locked up so me and my nigga decided to put a spin on it and were doing music, clothing, as well as the staffing company. Top Notch is real personal to me its tattooed on my hands, I got the "TN" chain with the logo and it represent so much. We do clothing drives in the winter and its something similar to the Roc-A-Fella sign or G-Unit which are more then music. There are people in Top Notch that don't make music and write raps, it's bigger then Tone Trump I'm just the leader of it.

24: You're signed to G-Unit as a group, so are you looking for a label as far as a solo deal?

Tone Trump: With all the money I've been spending on myself and the look I'm getting now with the G-Unit, the money has to be right or if not I will do it on my own! I got a respect for the Unit and would love to take it their but if not where going to go shopping and who ever come with the right bread we'll talk. It' s got to make a lot of sense and dollars for me to sign my name because I'm going to do it with or with out a major label!

24: I saw on your page that your looking for beats, what type of tracks are you looking for so our readers that are producers can send you something?

Tone Trump: I'm glad you mentioned that. I get about a thousand beats a day and I never tell a producer what type of beat to send. I just want that Music and once you got that Music your going to get heard. Send them beats in and we're going to make it happen!

24: Anything you want to say to the readers?

Tone Trump: Be on look out for G-Unit Philly, the CD and DVD coming soon make sure you check me on the Myspace at www.myspace.com/tonetrump. Shout out to everybody that's locked up. - 24hourhiphop.com

When West Philadelphia-raised rapper Tone Trump goes as far afield as Miami, his chains and tattoos get him recognized, but his long beard, grown in the Islamic tradition, is key. It's what triggers the catcalls. "Phiiiiillllly!"
DEF TONE: West Philly rapper Tone Trump, pictured outside the Al-Aqsa Academy at Germantown and Jefferson, toes the theologically correct and Quran-based party line that extremists distort the religion

DEF TONE: West Philly rapper Tone Trump, pictured outside the Al-Aqsa Academy at Germantown and Jefferson, toes the theologically correct and Quran-based party line that extremists distort the religion

Photo By: Michael T. Regan

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

And when he moved into his 10-bedroom home and office in Bryn Mawr last spring, the local cops took an interest in the 24-year-old rapper instantly. On the second day he was moving in, Trump said they told him the traffic of people moving in and out looked like drug activity. He says they're parked outside the house all day, every day. (This, even though Lower Merion Police Sgt. John Stillwagon says they've never heard of him.)

Back in the neighborhood at 52nd and Market, it's different. Men with beards longer than Trump's and women covered head to toe in burqas greet him in Arabic: "As-salaam alaikum, akhi."

He's black, a rapper and a Muslim. "That's three strikes right there," says Trump, who was born Abdul Sallam. It's just as hard to separate these three identities and peoples' reactions to them as it is to comprehend the diversity of voices that exists in the broad cultural stew of "Islamic rap," a relatively underexposed subgenre. There are British jihadi rappers who call themselves Sheikh Terra and the Soul Salah Crew and give shout-outs "to the OBL." There are teetotaling rappers who embrace Islam's stringent rules for personal behavior (no drugs, no alcohol) and comply with the religion's disdain for music and creative energy used outside of worship by rapping about being polite and praying.

And then there's Trump, who weds well-worn hip-hop territory (his 'hood: West Philly; his chains: diamond-encrusted; his sneakers: Gucci) with flourishes of Islamic jargon. (Listen to Tone Trump. Link takes you off this site.)

The voices of these Muslim artists join an already crowded chorus of shrieks and bellows, all trying to answer the question: "What will the relationship between Islam and the West be?" Some say Islam is a monolithic bogeyman that's come to kill us all. Some say it's a religion of peace distorted by madmen. For Trump, it's a source of personal strength, something he uses to get through the day.

There's nothing especially new about rappers being Muslim, in Philly or elsewhere, but only recently has everything a Muslim rapper says on a record been held up as proof or a refutation of Islam's universal ill will toward the West.
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When a British member of Parliament heard Sheikh Terra's song "Dirty Kuffar" (Arabic for nonbeliever), he referred it to police to see if it was prosecutable. And when the British Muslim group Fun-Da-Mental was set to release an album with lyrics sympathetic to jihadi violence, two record executives at his label threatened to resign and frontman Aki Nawaz risked prosecution under Britain's new "glorification of terrorism" laws. The message is clear: When Islam and rap music come together, free speech begins to recede.

But is Trump's Islam a religion of violence? Sure. He toes the theologically correct and Quran-based party line that violent extremists distort the religion, but what about the Dickies-and-thermals wearing, trigger-happy hoods who populate his records? Now, when hip-hop and Islam go into a room together, the cross-pollination of stereotypes is part of a national debate that will determine how this country will relate to 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide. Or, as Jedi Mind Tricks rapper and Muslim Vinnie Paz asks:

Does every Muslim in the world come equipped with a bomb?
Does every rap video have a chick in a thong?

The number of hearts and minds that Trump's words can influence is growing, too. Islam is the fastest-growing religion around the world and in the United States. Not even evangelism, with its made-for-TV shiny-faced preachers and "God wants you to have a huge-ass car!" sloganeering, has outpaced it. And hip-hop is the fastest-growing segment of the music industry.

Whatever happens on the streets of Philadelphia will speak volumes as to how these two worldwide cultures interact.

Perhaps the most overtly Islamic-sounding rapper in hip-hop today is a white Italian-American from South Philadelphia who converted to Islam over a decade ago. Paz (birth name: Vincenzo Luvineri) constructs landscapes steeped in Afro-Asiatic mysticism where cyborgs created by Islamic scientists pilot UFOs through ancient Egypt, hell-bent on reviving long-dead pharaohs. It's surreal, but not as surreal as what goes on at Jedi - Philadelphia Citypaper

West Philly's Tony "Tone Trump" Brice and his Top Notch Entertainment crew will perform on both sides of the Delaware River on Sunday.

First up is a set during the free "Artists United Against Violence" event at Rutgers-Camden.

It will include a panel discussion, performances by Peedi Peedi and others, and a screening of the locally shot documentary, "Close to Death."

Later, Trump will be at a mixtape release party at Tragos Lounge. - Philadelphia Daily News

Real name: Abdul Sallam

Age: 24

Hometown: West Philly (54th and Market).

On Philly rappers: "I think the people who got on in Philly were the wrong people—like Cassidy and the Young Gunz. People see them and think that's Philly. I'm leading this new generation of Philly fly hot boys. I'm trying to bring that Philly flavor and swagger to the next level."

On Philly's style: "Everywhere I go people jock us so hard—our style, our slang, our whole swagger. A lot of big-name people signed Philly artists and then jacked their whole style and ran with it. Cash Money jacked Gillie Da Kid's whole swagger. Lil Wayne talks about wearing Prada and Gucci sneakers. You go to New Orleans—no one does that. They wear army pants and Reeboks. Jay-Z signed so many artists from Philly, so now you hear him saying, 'Yah mean?' Nobody in Brooklyn says that. They even started copying our beards."

On being a Muslim rapper: "It's a constant tug of war. My religion is based on humility and being a servant of God. It goes against my whole swagger. But I keep constantly praying, constantly studying. But it's a fight."

Coming soon: Tone Trump's next mixtape Tone Trump Presents the Freestyle: The Summer Collection will be released July 8. The first thousand CDs come with a chance to win a diamond watch by Tone Trump's personal jeweler Moses from Golden Planet (1116 Market St.). - Philadelphia Weekly

www.swaggnews.com - Swagg News

April Issue Coming Soon
www.foundationmag.com - Foundation Magazine